[alberg30] Compadres

[FINNUS505 at aol.com]

From: FINNUS505 at aol.com

Hi Tom,

You and I are in the same boat. The guy who had #255 before me was
contemplating some serious alterations in order to make her a single hander's
circumnavigator. Somewhere along the line he lost steam, and donated the boat
to a local marine museum, from which my wife and I bought her.

The lines of the Alberg 30 are beautiful to someone who likes the classic old
CCA type hull,  and much of the boat is overbuilt and very strong. Our
surveyor passed her on the same basis; sound, but work in progress.

My two main projects were as follows; he had completely removed the starboard
side of the interior of the cabin, only leaving the bin lockers, and the
overhead pull-down lockers. Galley, bunk, and a significant part of the
bulkheads that make up the hanging locker were gone. He placed a vertical 4x4
teak beam under the already substantial mast step beam to cover the reduced
size of the bulkheads.

The other main project he left me with involved the engine installation. He
had put in a rebuilt Volvo diesel to replace the A4, and installed a 25 gallon
diesel tank under the cockpit. Unfortunately, this setup precluded any access
to the stuffing box. The Volvo is taller than the A4, so you can't slip over
it to get aft,  and when you open the little manhole cover in the cockpit
sole, all you see is the top of this huge fuel tank. He did cut an access hole
in the vertical bulkhead that holds up the stbd side of the cockpit, but
completely lying on the floor of the cockpit locker, and doing my best to
reach in, I could just get a few fingers of one hand  on the stuffing box. And
it was leaking. Not acceptable.
As for the rig, he had replaced the wooden spreaders with aluminum ones, which
are stronger. But most of the halyards and running rigging were old, old three
strand dacron, and I wouldn't be surprised if they dated from 1967. The main
halyard was the original SS wire that only reached to the boom, not the deck,
and had plenty of meathooks on it.The roller furling gear onthe main boom was
very stiff, and the anodizing on the mast was gone. None of the mast lights
worked, because the electrical system was in total dissaray. The conduit of
wires than ran under the port pull down lockers had about three generations of
wiring, most of which were dead on both ends. We rewired so that everything
works now, but didn't go the full distance with marine circuit breakers and an
amp hour meter.  We'll do those upgrades as budget allows. I kind of like that
old Perko electrical panel, anyway. But he did put in a beautiful teak and
holly cabin sole.
My wife and I have been slowly getting things in order. The most important job
was to get access to the stuffing box. I bought a Bomar hatch from West for
about 60 bucks, and cut a hole for it in the for end of the cockpit sole. Then
I cut out that monster 25 gallon tank. Finaly, I could see the back of my
engine, the cockpit scupper seacocks, and my stuffing box. Now that I could
see the stuffing box, and get a couple of wrenches on it,  I found that it
wasn't the stuffing box itself that had the slow leak, but where the shaft
tube threaded into the cutlass bearing fitting aft. I turned it tight, and
smothered it in Boatlife, and hopefully, when we relaunch, that will be a dry
spot.
Also seeing the back of the engine for the first time showed me that it would
have been impossible to change the water pump impeller from inside the cabin.
Only through the cockpit access can this be done. I also discovered that the
port aft engine mount was missing. Can't explain it, it's just not there.
Stargazer also needed a new for hatch, and new cockpit seat hatches. The main
hatch and lazarette hatch were repairable.
What we plan to do in the cabin, is move the gally up forward on the stbd
side, just aft of the aft bulkhead for what was a hanging locker. We'll build
shelves and cubbies in there. Aft of the galley, we would like a thirty inch
settee, aft of which will be a quarter birth, the aft end of which will extend
through the athwartships bulkhead at the aft end of the cabin. We'll move the
two batteries from the port cockpit locker where they are now, to a place
under the for end of the quarter birth.
Our toe rail is checked badly in some spots, but as it is not leaking, that
job is a low priority.
When we bought her, her name was Oui Quai, which in french means the dock, and
apparently was also a play on words on some former owner's wife, which was
Kay. Well, that name had to go. We removed all signs and vestiges of the old
name off the boat, and at least 6 months have gone by. When it's time to
launch, we'll paint Stargazer on her stern, and pour good champagne and rum
over her bow.
Good Luck Tom. Keep me posted!
Lee Trachtenberg
Stargazer #255

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